Chocolate Whiskey Midnight Cake

Chocolate and whiskey. What a great combination. It’s like you get 2 in 1, especially when it comes in the form of cake. The rich chocolate and the flavor of the whiskey just goes perfectly together. Then add in some black food coloring and add the word midnight into the mix and it’s a decadent midnight snack? Or maybe just have it whenever. Ever have cake for breakfast?

This cake has it all basically, chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate, plus the whiskey. It’s simple but also complex when it comes to making it. Simple being the cake and complex being the frosting. The frosting was basically an experiment gone wrong but then going oh so right. It all started with wanting caramel, burning said caramel, coming up with a different concept, finding no heavy cream in the fridge, doing a little research concerning heavy cream, making more caramel, making chocolate ganache, and 1/2 a cup of whiskey later came up with some grainy yet oddly yummy and runny mixture that I left in the fridge overnight. Uff… it did end up thickening but not by much and throwing it into a mixer bowl with a whisk attachment for 5 minutes did nothing either. Enter in the butter and powdered sugar making this so called “ganache” into something light and fluffy and SO delicious. It was a definite icing on the cake. Figuratively and literally.

I can be a little serious some times, or all the time, and when it comes to cake I go a little overboard. For me I like to come up with themes of a sort. Basically saying that I like the idea of having the flavor of the cake and the decor go together. So a chocolate cake colored to be as black as night and add in some gorgeous images of the galaxy onto it makes it definitely seem like midnight and I can’t help but love this cake, although the wafer paper is still a work in progress with figuring out the best way to incorporate it, so the images may look a little wonky.

Now this cake is very dangerous. To me I couldn’t taste all that much whiskey as the chocolate overpowered my taste buds, but my mom said she tasted it and she also claims she felt it, too, but I think she’s just messing around. Can you even get drunk on cake? Hmm, maybe that should be another experiment. Anyways, the cake has a hint of whiskey flavor, yet depending on what chocolate you use for the frosting you might not taste it, as I could only taste chocolate. Then again it depends on the person eating the cake, right?

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Chocolate Whiskey Midnight Cake

Makes one 3-layer, 6-inch cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk + 2 tbsp vinegar

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup whiskey

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Black food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350*F and grease and line 3 6-inch pans with parchment paper.

Measure out the milk and add in the vinegar and let sit about 5 minutes until the top has curdled.

In a large bowl, combine and sift the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda and powder, and the salt.

In another bowl combine the eggs, vanilla, oil, whiskey, and the milk/vinegar mixture and whisk together. Add in the food coloring.

Slowly pour the wet into the dry while whisking at the same time. Once fully mixed add in the chocolate chips and fold in.

Separate the batter evenly among the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes then carefully remove the cakes from the pans and wrap in plastic wrap to keep moist and until ready to use.

Chocolate Caramel Whiskey Frosting

Chocolate Ganache

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whiskey

Place the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. In a small pot, combine the butter, milk and whiskey and place over low-medium heat. Stir until the butter melts and everything is combined. Heat until scalding, don’t let boil. Once hot, poor over the chocolate and carefully stir together until the chocolate has melted and has come together.

Caramel

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp whiskey

In a small pot add in all of the ingredients and place over medium heat, stirring until everything is combined and the butter has melted. Let cook until starts to bubble and thickens slightly, about 8 minutes. Add to the chocolate ganache mixture and mix to combine.

Place the caramel chocolate mixture in the fridge and let set for at least 3 hours, but preferably overnight. If the mixture seems grainy, don’t worry, once the rest of the ingredients are added it will become creamy and smooth.

To Combine

1 stick butter

3 cups powdered sugar

Black food coloring

Place the chocolate caramel mixture into the bowl of an electric mixture with the whisk attachment and whip for about 5 minutes. Add the butter and the powdered sugar and carefully start to mix to prevent a powdered sugar shower. Once combined add in the food coloring.